Rope-splicing device



Jan. 3, 1967 1.. c. BEVERIDGE ROPE-SPLICING DEVICE Filed Sept. 28, 1964INVENTOR. Lew C. BEVEEl DGE ATTORNEYS United States Patent C) 3,295,303ROPE-SPLICING DEVICE Levi Clark Beveritlge, 123 Ann St, Beaufort, N.C.28516 Filed Sept. 2%, 1964, Ser. No. 399,491

' '19 (Ilaims. (Cl. 57-23) This invention relates to rope-splicingdevices, and has for its principal object the provision of an improvedropesplicing device possessing both greater versatility and greaterfacility of utilization than the splicing needles and similar implementsheretofore known.

Related and more specific objects of this invention are the provision ofthe ropesplicing device which is selfsupporting so as to leave free bothhands of the user, and which is capable of being employed to splice ropeof many different sizes. In the latter connection, a single deviceembodying principles of the present invention may be employed withoutmodification to splice ropes ranging in size from the very smallest tothe very largest now in general use.

Another more specific object is provision of a rope splicing devicewhich is so designed and constructed as to permit a user to effect thesplicing operation with a minimum expenditure of time and effort.

Still another object is provision of a device of the type describedwhich is readily portable, and which is of compact, sturdy, long-lastingand economical construction.

Still other objects and advantages will be in part evident and in partpointed out hereinafter in the following description of an illustrativeembodiment of the invention, which should be read in conjunction withthe accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front perspective view of a device embodying the inventionbeing used to splice a rope;

FIGURES 2 and 3 are enlarged front perspective and top plan views,respectively, of the device of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged front perspective view of the top portion of thedevice of FIGURE 1, with the rope being spliced impaled thereon; and

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged horizontal section taken through the top portionof the device of FIGURE 1, with the rope being spliced impaled thereon.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the device there shownconsists generally of a self-supporting tripodtype base member If) uponwhich a spike member 12 is mounted in a generally upright position. Allof the components of the device, including members It], 12, areconstructed of steel or other sturdy, wear-resistant material possessingsimilar properties.

Base member includes elongate legs 14, I6 and I8, and a cross-bar 28. Apivot pin 22 extends through and interconnects the lower end portion ofleg 18 and the center of cross-bar 20. As is shown in the drawings, whenthe rope-splicing device is in use cross-bar 2t} extends normal to leg18 and lies horizontally upon the ground or other supporting surfacepresent at the site of the splicing operation. However, when it isdesired to render the device more compact for storage or transportation,cross-bar 20 may be pivoted from its illustrated position through an arcof ninety degrees and to a position parallel with the leg 13 to which itis connected by pin 22.

Spike member 12 of the device consists of two flat wall sections 24, 26integrally joined together along a common edge 28 so as to include anangle of approximately ninety degrees therebetween. Spike member 12 istapered, the upper end 30 thereof being pointed and the free edges 32,3d of wall sections 24-, 26, respectively, as well as edge 28, divergingdownwardly from such pointed upper end along their entire lengths. Whileperiph- Fatented Jan. 3, 196? eral edge 28 of spike member 12 may bestraight, the edges 32, 34 bordering the open space between walls 24, 26of spike member 12 are convexedly curved, as shown, for reasonssubsequently made apparent. As is best shown in FIGURE 5, spike member12 has a generally V-shaped configuration in horizontal cross-section,and the previously-mentioned open space between walls 24, 26 and edges32, 34 thereof defines a passageway 36 extending along its entire lengthor height. Due to the tapered construction of the spike member, it willbe apparent that passageway 36 possesses an increasing crosssectionalarea from the pointed upper end 341! to the lower end of spike member12.

When spike member 12 is constructed from a suitablymachined conventionalangle section, as in the case of the illustrated embodiment of thedevice, leg 18 of base member 10 may be formed integrally therewith as areduced-size extension of such angle section. Apart from other benefits,this construction results in leg 18 of base member ltl being alined withedge 23 of spike member 12, which alinement is a significant feature ofthe present invention. Similarly, legs 14, 16 of base member 12 areconnected to spike member 12 in such a manner that when the device is inuse these legs are alined with and in effect form extensions of edges32, 34,. respectively, of the spike member. The specific connectionbetween legs 14, 16 and spike member 12 consists of pivot pins 38, 40which respectively extend through the upper ends of the former andthrough wall sections 24, 26 of the latter at points adjacent thelowermost extremities of edges 32, 34 thereof. The pivotal mounting oflegs 14, 16 is such as to permit the same to be swung inwardly towardfixed leg 18 when the device is not in use, so as to thus facilitate thedevices transportation and/or storage.

A significant advantage of the present device is that it leaves bothhands of a user free to manipulate the rope being spliced. Thus, whenerected for use as shown in the drawing, the device is completelyself-supporting and is quite stable. In the latter connection, it willbe noted that all of the legs of base member 10, and therefore all ofthe edges of spike member 12 alined therewith, extend at an anglerelative to the vertical axis of the device. It will also be noted thatthe stabilizing effect of cross-bar 20 of base member 10 can be:enhanced, as illustrated in FIGURE 1, by the user placing his feetthereon as the splicing operation is performed. As is also illustratedin FIGURE 1, the height og she device is such that the splicingoperation can be performed while the user is in a seated position.

The splicing operation is initiated by the user grasping in both handsthat length of the rope in which the splice is to be made, and impalingthe same upon pointed upper end 30 of spike member 12. The impaledlength of rope is then moved downwardly of the spike member by the useruntil the rope is opened, by the diverging edges 28, 32, 34, to such anextent that a desired one of its end strands S can be passed throughassageway 36 and between the separated strands S of the impaled length(see FIGURE 5). After one of the strands S has been passed throughpassageway 36 as shown in FIGURES 4 and 5, the free end thereof ispulled downwardly and to the right, as illustrated by the arrow ofFIGURE 5. This brings the strand S into snug, intimate engagement withthe junction of the strands S adjacent edge 34 of spike member 12,thereby producing, as the foregoing operation is repeated, anexceptionally smooth and tight splice.

Since spreading or opening up the impaled rope as the same is moveddownwardly of spike member 12 is produced by the downwardly-divergingedges 28, 32, 34 at the periphery thereof, and since these edges are ofrelatively small width, the areal contact and therefore the frictionbetween the rope and spike 12 are appreciably less than in the case of agenerally cylindrical splicing device such as a conventionalmarlinspike. A significant advantage of the present device, therefore,is that only a minimal amount of the force is necessary toeffect thedesired opening up of the impaled rope. An additional advantage is thedegree of opening up of the rope which is achieved in relation to itsdownward movelment. comparison with known splicing implement, only asmall amount of movement of the rope do nwardly of spike member 12 isnecessary to sufiiciently open up or spread the latter. This desirableresult is due not only to spike member 12 having threemutually-diverging edges which effect the spreading or opening of therope, but also to two of these edges, 32 and 34, being convexedly curvedrather than straight, as previously described.

Ropes of any size ranging from the smallest to the largest now ingeneral use may be spliced by the present device. When splicing verysmall rope, it is necessary to move the same downwardly of spike member12 to a location only a slight distance below pointed upper end 30thereof. The opening up of the rope and the crosssectional area ofpassageway 36 at such location will each-be sufficient to permit thedesired passage of an end strand S between strands S. Larger rope can bespliced with equal facility merely by moving the same further downwardlyof spike member 12 to a lower location thereon, since the larger rope isthereby not only opened up to the necessary greater extent, butadditionally the cross-sectional area of passageway 36 is greater atsuch lower location. If an extremely large rope should not be openedsufficiently even when moved to the lowermost extremity of spike member12, the requisite additional opening up thereof may be achieved bycontinuing to move it downwardly, onto and along base member 10. This ispossible by reason of the heretofore-mentioned alinement of the edges28, 32, 34 of spike member 12 with corresponding legs 18, 14', 16 of thebase member. As the rope is moved downwardly of base member 16, thediverging legs thereof open and spread the rope to an ever-increasingextent in the same general manner as the edges of spike member 12. Itwill therefore be appreciated that splicing of even the very largesthawsers now in general use can be achieved by the present device.

Upon completion of a splicing ope-ration, legs 14, and cross-bar 20 ofbase member 10 may each be pivoted toward leg 18, thus reducing thedevice to a compact size convenient for transportation and/ or storage.

It will thus be seen that there has been provided a rope-splicing devicerealizing the objects and possessing the benefits hereinbefore noted,together with many practical advantages. While in the drawing andspecification there has been set forth a preferred specific embodimentof the invention, this was for purposes of description and illustrationonly, and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the inventionbeing defined in the claims.

That which is claimed is:

1. A rope-splicing device comprising:

(a) a base member adapted to stand upon a supporting surface;

(b) a spike member mounted in a substantially upright position upon saidbase member and having a pointed upper end upon which the rope isadapted to be impaled;

(c) said spike member being tapered and having three peripheral edgesextending downwardly from said pointed upper end thereof in divergingrelationship to each other for spreading open the impaled rope as thesame is moved downwardly of said spike member;

(d) said spike member having a longitudinally'extending passageway ofincreasing cross-sectional area from said upper end to the lower endthereof, and the space between two of said edges of said spike memberbeing open and communicating with said passageway.

2. A rope-splicing device as in claim 1, wherein said two of said edgesof said spike member are convexedly curved.

3. A rope-splicing device as in claim 1, wherein each of said edges ofsaid spike member extends downwardly from said pointed upper end thereofin angular relationship relative to the vertical axis of said spikemember.

4. A rope-splicing device as in. claim 1, wherein said spike membercomprises a pair of flat wall sections joined angularly together alongone of said edges of said spike member, whereby said spike member is ofgene-rally V- shaped cross-sectional configuration, and wherein saidpassageway comprises the space enclosed between said wall sections.

5. A rope-splicing device comprising:

(a) a base member adapted to stand upon a supporting surface;

(b) a three-edged spike member of generally V-shaped cross-sectionalconfiguration mounted in a substantially upright position upon said basemember and having a pointed upper end upon which the rope is adapted tobe impaled;

(c) said spike member being tapered with said edges thereof extendingdownwardly from said pointed upper end in diverging relationship to eachother and to the vertical axis of said spike member for spreading openthe impaled rope as the same is moved downwardly of said spike member;

((1) the interior of said spike member defining alongitudinally-extending passageway of increasing crosssectional areafrom said pointed upper end to the lower end thereof; and

(e) two of said edges of said spike member being convexedly curved.

6. A rope-splicing device as in claim 5, wherein said base member is ofthe tripod-type having three legs extending in downwardly-divergingrelationship to each other, and wherein said legs of said base memberare generally alined with corresponding ones of said edges of said spikemember when the device is in use.

7. A rope-splicing device comprising:

(a) a tripod-type base member adapted to stand upon a supportingsurface;

(b) a tapered spike member of generally V-shaped cross-sectionalconfiguration mounted in a generally upright position upon said basemember and having a pointed upper end upon which the rope is adapted tobe impaled, said spike member comprising a pair of substantially flatwall sections having a common edge along which the same are joinedangularly together and each having a free edge of convex curvature;

(c) said edges of said wall sections extending downwardly from saidpointed upper end of said spike member in diverging relationship to eachother and to the vertical axis of said spike member for spreading openthe impaled rope as the rope is moved downwardly of said spike member;and

(d) the space enclosed between said wall sections of said spike memberdefining a longitudinally-extending passageway of increasingcross-sectional area from said upper end of said spike member to thelower end thereof.

8. A rope-splicing device comprising:

(a) a base member adapted to stand upon a supporting surface, said basemember being of the tripod-type and having three legs extending indownwardlydiverging relationship to each other;

(b) a spike member mounted in a substantially upright position upon saidbase member and having a pointed upper end upon which the rope isadapted to be impaled;

(c) said spike member being tapered and having three peripheral edgesextending downwardly from said pointed upper end thereof in divergingrelationship to each other for spreading open the impaled rope as thesame is moved downwardly of said spike member;

((1) said legs of said base member being alined with corresponding onesof said edges of said spike member for receiving and for furtherspreading open the impaled rope upon the same being moved from saidspike member onto and downwardly of said base member; and

(e) said spike member having a longitudinally-extend ing passageway ofincreasing cross-sectional area from said upper end to the lower endthereof, and the space between two of said edges of said spike memberbeing open and communicating with said passageway.

9. A rope-splicing device as in claim 8, wherein said base memberfurther includes a cross-bar pivotally connected intermediate its lengthto the lower end portion of one of said legs thereof, said cross-barbeing adapted during use of the device to extend along said supportingsurface normal to said one of said legs and being pivotally movable whendesired to extend generally parallel to said one of said legs.

10. A rope-splicing device as in claim 6, wherein two of said legs ofsaid base member are mounted for pivotal movement when desired towardthe other of said legs.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,726,165 8/1929Shepherd 57--23 2,112,176 3/1938 Olsson 5723 2,261,447 11/1941 Payne57-23 FRANK I. COHEN, Primary Examiner.

D. E. WATKINS, Assistant Examiner.

1. A ROPE-SPLICING DEVICE COMPRISING: (A) A BASE MEMBER ADAPTED TO STAND UPON A SUPPORTING SURFACE; (B) A SPIKE MEMBER MOUNTED IN A SUBSTANTIALLY UPRIGHT POSITION UPON SAID BASE MEMBER AND HAVING A POINTED UPPER END UPON WHICH THE ROPE IS ADAPTED TO BE IMPALED; (C) SAID SPIKE MEMBER BEING TAPERED AND HAVING THREE PERIPHERAL EDGES EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY FROM SAID POINTED UPPER END THEREOF IN DIVERGING RELATIONSHIP TO EACH OTHER FOR SPREADING OPEN THE IMPALED ROPE AS THE SAME IS MOVED DOWNWARDLY OF SAID SPIKE MEMBER; (D) SAID SPIKE MEMBER HAVING A LONGITUDINALLY-EXTENDING PASSAGEWAY OF INCREASING CROSS-SECTIONAL AREA FROM SAID UPPER END OF THE LOWER END THEREOF, AND THE SPACE BETWEEN TWO OF SAID EDGES OF SAID SPIKE MEMBER BEING OPEN AND COMMUNICATING WITH SAID PASSAGEWAY. 